All's Fair in Love and War
by bean15
Summary: Takes place after "Western Air Temple". The Gaang and the kids from the battle are getting by when Teo goes missing. Who took him? Why? What lengths will Aang and the others go to in order to get him back? And who will they meet along the way?
1. Taken

Hey everyone!

This is my first ATLA fic, but nowhere near my first ever fic. On a whim, I decided to procrastinate and not do my college work and start rewatching the entire series on Netflix. There will be a pairing in the story eventually, but you won't meet her for a while. As much as I adore Teoph (and the endless fics of Teo taking Toph for a ride on his glider) that will not be the pairing here. I think Teo needs someone a tad more upbeat.

For those of you who haven't read my other work, I start each chapter with a random fun fact... if you are going to blow off homework to read fanfiction (which I often do) I think you should at least learn something to make it worth your while and not a total waste of time.

Random Fact: The "Northernmost Southern Barbeque" is found just 188 miles south of the Arctic Circle in Fairbanks, Alaska. It's called "Big Daddy's Barbeque." Enjoy your brisket and bread pudding, everyone!

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><p>All was peaceful and still around the campfire at the Western Air Temple when Teo woke from a sound slumber. He wasn't sure exactly why he had woken up, but it hadn't woken any of the others. He pushed his thighs forwards, stretching his legs out. Though he couldn't feel much below mid-thigh, what he could feel was sore from being in one position for so long. He rotated his neck; sleeping on the stone floor was very different than his nice warm bed back at the Northern Air Temple. But he was helping the Avatar… he wouldn't trade this for the world. He only wished his father hadn't been captured by Fire Nation soldiers only days before during the failed attack on the Day of the Black Sun.<p>

He decided as long as he was awake, he might as well get some water. He pushed himself up slowly, stretching his arms as he went. His arms were strong from years of pushing his wheelchair, but the long cold nights of sleeping on solid rock were making his joints stiff.

He rested on his palms for a minute, chest up, feeling the pull in his muscles. It felt good in the cold night air. Even though it wasn't the temple in which he'd made his home, he was glad to be back in an ancient home of the airbenders. He'd always felt peaceful here, and though he was a citizen of the Earth Kingdom, he knew his heart was happy when he was flying.

A sharp crack of a stick brought Teo out of his thoughts and back into reality. He looked quickly around to figure out what had made the noise but he didn't see anything. Not that he'd be a huge help if there was someone. He was pretty far from his chair… Teo looked over to see his friend Haru had rolled in his sleep again, this time pushing Teo's chair away from the circle. Oh well, he would get it in the morning. Whatever had made that noise was gone now. _Must have been a squirrel-rabbit_, Teo thought as he shook his head, deciding to forget about the drink of water and just wait until morning. He closed his eyes, mentally slapping himself for worrying over nothing.

Suddenly, a think piece of cloth was yanked over his mouth, startling him. His eyes snapped open and he instinctively reached up to pull it away, but another pair of hands behind him grabbed his wrists and held them together in a vise grip before trying them together with a stout cord. The cloth was pulling his head back and he twisted, trying to dislodge it, but to no avail. It was quickly tied in a tight knot behind his head, and no matter how hard he tried to alert the others, only quiet muffled moans came out from underneath it.

Before he could get a look at his attackers, they shoved a thick black bag over his head. He couldn't see a thing. He felt one of them pick up his ankles, but finding them bound already by Teo's ever-present bandages, he let them be. They started dragging him toward the edge of the temple, and Teo fought harder than ever. All he got for his trouble was a hard kick to his stomach. Still, he fought. He had to warn Aang and the others that someone had found them at the temple. Another few seconds, and his bound wrists were jerked behind him, wrenching his shoulders and making him cry out in pain. The gag reduced his shout to an incomprehensible moan, but through the pain, Teo heard a voice that was decidedly male. "Shut up kid," another kick to the stomach. "Our orders are to get you and bring you back. If you wake up any of your friends, we'll kill them, and their death will be on your hands. Understand?"

Teo nodded. He couldn't figure out why someone would want him instead of the Avatar, but if being quiet meant these people spared his friends, then so be it. He sighed, and stopped fighting as his kidnappers picked him up and threw him towards the cliff. He couldn't help it, he screamed. Once again, the fabric over his mouth kept him quiet, but a muffled grunt escaped its bind when he hit a wooden floor with a dull _thunk_. His left side hit the deck first, wrenching his shoulder painfully. He heard two softer thuds as his captors' feet came aboard whatever he was lying on. The second one spoke. "We've got the kid, he's not going anywhere. Time to go home and deliver him to Princess Azula."

Teo paled. He had heard stories about the Fire Nation princess. None were pleasant. He still couldn't figure out why she would want him though. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar lurch in his stomach. This one wasn't from a kick, but from a sudden change in altitude. Whatever this thing he was on was, it was in the air… it was flying. The Fire nation had air power. If he ever managed to find a way out of this, he'd have to remember to tell Aang that the skies were no longer an advantage.

One of his captors pushed Teo to the side with his boot, jostling his shoulder in the process. "Move it kid, you're in the way. Next time, I'll break your arm."

"The princess said she wants him unharmed until he gets there," said the second one. Teo let out a breath of relief. Until the rest of the sentence. "so that it's agony when she and the Lady Ty Lee and the Lady Mai interrogate him." Teo gulped. Apparently the stories he'd heard about Princess Azula were true.

As the two kidnappers argued about whether they should or should not break his arm, Teo slowly scooted away from them, not even aware he was doing it until his back hit a metal wall. It felt thick, and yet it was floating. He wished he could see this machine under different circumstances; his father would love it. Teo's breath caught. Thinking about his father only made him sadder. Teo fought to hold back tears and concentrated on the wisps of wind that made it through the bag over his face. Flying had always made him happy, but it was failing tonight. _Being bound, gagged, blindfolded and kidnapped on a flying thingamajig is kind of a mood-killer,_ he thought.

_Well, nothing to do about it now but wait_. Teo shifted his body until he was lying flat to take the pain away from his injured shoulder. If he was being taken to Azula, it was pretty likely his kidnappers were Fire Nation. _But what on earth could she want with me, _Teo thought. _I'm not the Avatar… I'm not even an earthbender. _As he lay there, a small voice crept into his mind, uninvited as always, but unmistakable. _You can't even walk_. Teo squeezed his eyes shut and turned towards the wall, as if someone on board the vessel had spoken these words aloud.

He always tried to be upbeat and not let his disability get him down, but even his sunny disposition could not see a bright side to this situation. He curled in on himself and quietly fell into sobs until exhaustion overcame him and he finally slept.

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><p>Review please! you know you want to. I have no idea what my college schedule will look like over the next few weeks, but I promise I will dutifully try to update, as long as I know there are people reading. Otherwise, I might actually go back to doing homework. Happy reading everyone! Thanks, beanie<p> 


	2. Leverage

Hey everyone!

i have at least one "alert", so faithful reader, this chapter is for you. =D

random fact: A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time. It is the time it takes light to traverse the distance of 1 centimeter (33.3 pico seconds = 0.000,000,000,033,300 seconds). That's pretty darn fast.

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><p>Teo was flying, his chair soaring in loops, gliding on the warm air currents at the Northern Air Temple. He was in the sky and he was home. He felt his heart leap and soar with the rest of him, lighter than air. This was where he belonged. He closed his eyes, the better to let his spirit carry him, when someone shook his shoulder. It was way more painful that it should have been. He shrugged, eyes still closed, trying to get whoever it was to go away. It didn't work, they kept shaking him.<p>

The hands got rougher, pushing him. Suddenly, he doubled over from what felt like a kick to his ribs. He felt himself fall from the glider chair towards the hard rock floor of the temple, expecting a world of pain when he hit. He got it. His head felt like it was going to explode.

Teo opened his eyes, expecting to see his father's worried face standing over him, asking a hundred questions to see if he was all right. His brain prepared the customary, 'I'm fine, Dad,' but he stopped before any words came out. He couldn't see anything. He squeezed his eyes shut, hoping against hope that he would see something when he opened them again, but no such luck. And his head was killing him. He tried to reach a hand up to see if he was bleeding, but his hands wouldn't move. He suddenly felt the thick cord around them and the events of last night came rushing back and hit him like a ton of bricks.

He had been ambushed at the Western Air Temple, and had managed to get himself kidnapped by Fire Nation soldiers. The flying had been a dream. Teo groaned as he realized that he must have hit his head on the metal wall he'd blindly bumped into last night. The black bag was still over his head, which was why everything was still dark. _At least I'm not blind_, Teo thought grimly. Just then, the wooden deck he was laying on gave an almighty lurch and stopped dead, throwing Teo forward and rolling him into the wall again. _I hope we stopped… any more of those and my shoulder's gonna fall off_.

Before he could make any more guesses about what was happening, two pairs of hands came out of nowhere and grabbed him. One gripped his shoulders and the other hooked under his knees. They lifted him up off the ground and carried him forward. Teo listened with all his might, and he heard it when the soldiers' feet left the wooden deck of the flying thing that brought him here onto the stone pathways that he could only assume would take him to the palace. He took as deep a breath as he could with the cloth still tight over his mouth, and braced himself for whatever was coming next.

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"Get up Snoozles! You're in my way," said Toph, tactful as always.

"Snurgfffhl" came Sokka's eloquent reply, bringing laughs from the rest of the group. "Leave me alone," he whined. "It's still early." Another laugh and everyone started cleaning up the mess of blankets from the night before to get ready for some much-needed breakfast. Zuko shot a small blast of fire under the cauldron and Katara got some water boiling. "Teo," she said, "could you hand me some of that salted moose-lion meat?" Katara held her hand out behind her, waiting. "Teo?" she called, looking around this time. He had never been slow to help out before. It was hard for him to lean down and fold the blankets, so he had fallen into a routine of helping Katara with breakfast. "Hey, has anyone seen Teo?"

Everyone fell quiet and looked around. The Duke was the first one to break the silence. "I haven't seen him since last night." Haru looked over to the empty wheelchair near the pile of crumpled blankets and sighed. "He couldn't have gone far, his chair's still here." The others nodded. They knew Teo could get in and out of the chair by himself, but he would never attempt to go anywhere without it. Especially not here, where they were on such high buildings and a few wrong steps could lead to death.

Aang walked over to the chair. Nothing was out of place. Everything seemed normal. Too normal. "Teo is way too nice to leave without telling at least one of us where he was going." They all nodded. It was true. "I don't want to panic without proof, but maybe something happened."

Zuko scoffed. "If Fire Nation soldiers were here, why would they take him and not the rest of us? Why would they leave the Avatar? I mean, Teo's a nice kid and all, but what makes him special enough to be a prize for a Fire Nation soldier?"

Sokka raised a finger and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "Hmm…. Good point. But something definitely happened. And we should figure out what." The others chorused their agreement. Sokka's stomach rumbled. "But first, breakfast."

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Teo still couldn't see anything, but the echoes that followed every footstep told him he was inside, probably a building with high ceilings. Maybe even the Fire Nation palace. The soldiers did say they captured him on orders from Azula. He was both hoping for and dreading some answers.

Somewhere during this train of thought, the soldiers carrying him stopped. He hoped they put him down soon. It was too much to hope for that they would untie him, even though his shoulder was killing him. He heard voices, and his drive for knowledge kicked in. He supposed he'd learned it from his father, but he couldn't resist getting his hands on every bit of knowledge he could. This situation was no different. _Come on, listen up_, he told himself. _You could learn something that could save your life_.

"You wish an audience with Her Highness?"

"We have the prisoner for Princess Azula." Silence. "The prisoner she requested. The one from the Western Air Temple." Footsteps. That phrase seemed to mean something to the doormen. _That's interesting,_ Teo thought. _Worrying, but interesting_.

"Go in. The princess is expecting you. I'm glad you're here, actually. You may lighten her mood."

Teo gulped. If Azula was in a bad mood, he should watch himself. From what Aang had told them, Azula didn't need a reason to attack anyone. She could be crazier than a wild hogmonkey in heat when she was calm. Teo didn't even want to think about what she could be like when she was angry. He hoped he wasn't about to find out.

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"Hey guys, check this out," yelled the Duke. "Scorch marks," he pointed. Zuko frowned. "Those were made by a war balloon." The tone before had been tense, but now the tension could be cut with a knife. Sokka spoke first. "If a war balloon took Teo, he's probably somewhere in the fire nation by now." They all stood still for a moment and looked at each other. All at once, they immediately started packing up everything, readying Appa for a long trip to find their friend.

About an hour later, they were ready. Toph and Haru were going to earthbend their way across the solid ground but they were going to fly the short channel from the western mountains to the mainland of the Earth Kingdom, then across to the Fire Nation. "Come on," said Haru impatiently. He was anxious to get under way. He had taken a liking to the younger boy who had been through so much and was still the group's ray of sunshine. Even in the middle of a war, after both of their fathers had been captured, Teo always found some tiny thing that made the situation better. Haru hoped that wherever Teo was, he was putting his powers of positive thinking to good use.

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With a deep echo, the huge doors into the palace throne room opened and Teo's captors started walking forward once more. He knew better than to struggle now, it would only get him into trouble with Azula. And the spirits knew he didn't need any more trouble than he was already in.

"Is that him?" came a cold voice, completely devoid of any warmth or human kindness. It sent a shiver down Teo's spine. "Yes Princess, this is the boy you asked for."

"Hmm." One syllable, that was it. Teo wished the bag wasn't on his head anymore. He figured he could get a better read on the situation, if only he could see. His wish was granted. He was dropped roughly on the floor, and one of the soldiers grabbed the bag and yanked it over his head, and Teo got his first glance at the Fire Nation princess.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, not used to the light after so long in the dark. His brown eyes looked upward from the floor at the girl who had ordered his capture and saw that there wasn't an ounce of compassion in her at all. Her face was beautiful, but it was a cold beauty, harsh and unyielding, calculated. Like the lightning she was famous for. His eyes flicked to the left, distracted by movement.

He blinked. The girl sitting there couldn't be real. She was far too pink for the Fire Nation. And she was looking at him very strangely, almost like he was a piece of meat. His thoughts on this girl, who looked decidedly less dangerous than Azula, were interrupted by a sigh from his right. Another girl, roughly the same age as Azula and the pink girl, but this one was staring at the wall. If he didn't know better, he would have thought this girl was… bored.

"Look at me, peasant." That was Azula. He decided to do as she said. She was pretty scary from the floor. "Do you know who I am?"

Teo nodded. Azula rolled her eyes. "Guards, remove his gag. Then leave us." The soldiers rushed to comply with her orders, and fairly ran from the room. Teo licked his lips, dry from the cloth, and drew a deep breath.

"I asked you a question, peasant."

"I know who you are," Teo said, his voice hoarse from disuse. "What do you want with me?"

Azula laughed, but there was no warmth in that either. "He's bold, I'll give him that. The effect of living like animals in the old temples, I suppose."

The pink girl spoke. "For living like an animal, he's pretty cute."

Teo spluttered. Azula glowered at her. "Ty Lee, can you not control yourself at all?"

"What?" she said. "What did I say?" _So the girl in pink is the Lady Ty Lee… she can't be as dangerous as Sokka thinks_. _That means the other one must be Mai_. Azula's voice broke through his thoughts. "Peasant, answer me or be punished. Are you the mechanist's son or not?"

"I am. What does my father have to do with this?"

"I don't normally allow defiance."

"You haven't done anything to me yet."

"It sounds as if you're inviting punishment."

"My legs are as good as ruined. I'm not scared of being burned." This was not entirely true. Teo _was_ scared of what Azula could do to him if she wanted to, but he wanted to seem tougher than he felt. "What does my father have to do with this? Why did you bring me here?"

"Ugh. Silence him, Mai. I tire of his insolence. Guards!" Two came running in to the throne room as Mai stood and moved lazily toward Teo. "Yes, Princess?"

"Have the mechanist brought here immediately. I have something that belongs to him."

Teo gasped. Suddenly it had clicked. Mai had come up behind him and used the opportunity. She shoved a ball of cloth in Teo's mouth and tied a strip of cloth tightly around it, holding it in place. "Mmmrph," he growled at Azula. She gave him no notice. "Mai, stand in front of the prisoner. I don't want his father to see him just yet."

The doors opened with the same dull echo as they had before, only this time Teo's father was the one being led in by the guards. Teo tried to twist around Mai to get a look at his father, but her skirts were too full.

Azula spoke. "Mechanist, have you been working on the weapons I ordered?"

"No," came his father's voice, clear and strong. "You may have scared me into making you weapons once, but never again." While he was proud of his father, Teo knew his hunch only a few moments ago was right. Azula had kidnapped him as leverage… she needed a way to convince Ru Cheng to make weapons for the Fire Nation. Blackmail wouldn't work again, so she had resorted to other methods.

"Mechanist, do you know what happens to those who disobey me? They are punished."

"I told you before, I do not care what you threaten to do to me. My principles are far stronger now than they once were, and I refuse to sacrifice the honor of my people again."

"Interesting word choice," remarked Azula.

"What do you mean?" Teo heard a note of confusion in his father's voice. Azula grinned like a panther-bear about to pounce. "If you won't sacrifice your honor, would you sacrifice your son?" Teo heard his father gasp, and Mai moved aside. Teo's eyes locked with his father's, identical brown spheres reflecting each other's fear and worry. Seeing his son at the mercy of the Fire Nation was more than Ru Cheng could take. He had done everything to protect him from this fate, and it had all been for nothing.

"What have you done to him? Let him go!"

Azula laughed again, and Teo couldn't help a shiver that ran down his spine. It wasn't right that a human could make that sound. She stood and walked down the three steps to where Teo lay, still on the stone floor. She took a fistful of his hair and jerked his face up. "I will not let him go. He will remain here, as a prisoner, until this war is ended. As a reminder to you to do as you're told. If you hesitate again, he will be the one to suffer for your actions. It is because of your disobedience that he is here at all. If you had not been selfish, your son would be safe."

Ru fell to his knees and looked at his son. "Teo, I'm so sorry. Protecting you is more important than anything else."

"Nnnph!" Teo shook his head vehemently. _No! _He willed his father to understand him. _I don't care what happens to me. Giving Aang a fighting chance is bigger than any one of us. _For a moment, he thought his father got it, but his hopes were dashed as Ru looked to Azula and said, "You will get your weapons. Please, release my son. You have my word, you'll get what you want."

Teo's face fell. He knew his father was trying to protect him, but this was still wrong. Azula shook her head. "You have already broken one deal with the Fire Nation. And for your presumption to give me orders, he will be punished."

"No!" Ru tried to rush forward to protect his only child, but the guards held him back. Azula's blue fire blast hit Teo squarely in his left shoulder. His cry of pain was muffled by the gag, but it was still enough to draw an anguished cry from his father. That hurt Teo more than the pain.

Having gotten what she wanted, Azula ordered the guards to lock Teo in the dungeons and Ru in the workshop prison constructed for his use. Teo looked back at his father, blurry through tears of pain and betrayal, as he was dragged away to be imprisoned for who knew how long. He thought his father had learned not to give in to the Fire Nation, but it seemed not. He hoped at least that someone would bandage his shoulder before leaving him alone in a cell.

They did, sort of. If a coarse linen strip wrapped around his shoulder a few times and tied in a rough knot could be counted as a bandage. At least they had cut the ropes from his hands. And they took the gag out. Then they left him alone. He rotated his aching jaw, sore from being held open for so long. He sat back against the cold stone wall, the chill soothing his throbbing shoulder. He was completely alone in a dungeon in the Fire Nation, and his father was making them more weapons. It was too much for him, and he cried himself to sleep for the second time in two days.

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"Is everyone okay?" asked Katara after a crash landing on solid ground in the Earth Kingdom. The channel was longer than they had thought, and Appa had barely made it with everyone on his back. The extra weight was more than the bison could carry, and he had dropped from the sky in exhaustion. The answering groans told Katara that everyone was accounted for, and other than a few minor scrapes and bumps, no one was seriously injured.

"We'll have to walk for a while, but I think we're going to be fine."

"I think we should rest for a bit before going anywhere," said Aang. "Appa can't walk anywhere right now, right buddy?" A growl was all they needed to hear. "We can rest here, maybe even for the night," replied Sokka.

"What about Teo?" asked the Duke. "Don't worry, we'll find him. But we're no good to him tired," said Haru. "That's right," said Sokka, reaching for his camping pack. "Head's up, guys," said Toph. "We've got company." Before she could say more, an arrow embedded itself in Sokka's food sack. "Gah!"

They whipped around and saw a young girl, about fifteen years old leading a group of about twenty teenagers. Every one of them had a bow and arrow, and wore green and brown clothes, cut for hard use and hard work. The girl in front spoke. "Who are you? What do you want? Why have you come here?"

Everyone was silent for a minute, then Aang took a chance. "Hi," he said. "We mean you no harm. We're looking for a friend of ours, he was captured by the Fire Nation. I'm the Avatar," he added, just in case. The girl looked to her companions. "The Avatar?" she said. "Prove it."  
>Aang shrugged, and with a lazy flick of his finger spun an airball and sat on it. He grinned. "See? Told you I was the Avatar."<p>

The girl signaled to her troops and they all lowered their weapons. "Sorry," she said. "There have been so many Fire Nation troops all over the Earth Kingdom. You can't be too safe anymore."

"It's okay," said Aang. "We're used to it by now."

"Okay?" said Sokka. "it is not okay, she shot my food!"

"It was already dead, wasn't it?" asked the girl. "Well, yeah… but not the point! It's the principle," said Sokka, as if this would clear up everything. She laughed. "Okay. If I apologize for shooting your food, will you all come to our village? We would be honored to give the Avatar and his friends shelter for as long as you need it. Your bison looks in need of some care."

The group was all in favor of spending the night in beds rather than on the ground, and soon they were under way. "It's not far from here, just beyond those ridges."

As they all walked, most of the group was silent, each for their own reasons. After a few minutes, the Duke piped up. He ran to the girl who seemed to be the leader of the band of archers and tugged on her sleeve. "Yes?" she said, looking down at him.

"What's your name?"

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><p>Review please! I can see how many hits i have, so I know people are reading. i use fanfic to keep my fiction skills in practice. Even if you don't like it,let me know what you think!<p>

thanks, beanie


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